CNET Editors' note: The Download Now link will prompt a local download of the Firefox extension. To install the extension directly, open the file using your Firefox browser.
CNET Editors' review
Download accelerator and manager DownThemAll gives a swift kick in the pants to Firefox's download manager, providing the browser not only with heightened downloading chops, but with an effective tool for sniffing out media content on Web pages and getting it on your hard drive quickly.
New in version 2 are some sweet tools for making it all happen faster. While support for Firefox 4 was essential to the add-on's continued life, the granular controls over download speeds are a welcome surprise. You can now set different maximum download speeds by individual download, by server, or as a global preference. Separately, you can also set download limits by server.
Firefox's trackless browsing option receives support in DownThemAll 2. This means that even if you're running in Private Browsing mode, you can run the add-on and get the increased download speeds it provides.
The media-sniffing option will discover and download audio and video embedded or linked in a Web page for you, as long as you're looking at a site on HTTP or HTTPS. Of course, this is the case for the vast majority of users and ought not to pose a problem.
DownThemAll's queue control has been improved as well, with new filters available to help clear the line of in-progress and completed downloads that have been set up; and DownThemAll now offers official, developer-sponsored integration with the Firefox add-on Video DownloadHelper. HTML5 support includes both < video > and < audio > tags, at least as far as they've been documented and integrated into the browser itself. HTML5 standards have yet to be finalized.
Other changes of interest to the add-on include better context menu integration; a rejiggering of how the average download speed gets calculated to favor more recent downloads; and support for third-party download services such as RapidShare without having to enable third-party cookies when cookies have been disabled. Some add-on defaults have been changed, too, including making five auto-retries spaced 5 minutes apart before marking a download a failure; upping the number of concurrent downloads from four to eight, although concurrent downloads from the same server remain restricted to four; and granting read permissions to the user group for new downloads.
The program's descriptive interface tells you everything you need to know while attempting downloads. You'll have to select a destination for the files and enter a reference URL from the site you're loading from--fortunately, it comes with a drop-down menu of recently visited sites and offers a clearing feature for this list when you're done. Its one-click option makes the process a little less painful by letting you select a constant spot for your downloads. Configurations allow you to set a maximum number of downloads at once, and advanced features perform partial loads.
The growing number of Windows 7 users ought to note that a savvy fan of the add-on found that it works much better on Windows 7 when a Microsoft bug fix has been applied to the operating system, and so the add-on publisher recommends that Windows 7 users make sure they've installed the fix for more stable downloading.
DownThemAll is hardly the only multifeatured download enhancement add-on in Firefox's deep catalog, but the newer features and undeniably faster download speeds make it useful, and doubly so to serial downloaders.
Publisher's Description
From Federico Parodi and Stefano Verna:
DownThemAll (or just dTa) is a powerful yet easy-to-use Mozilla Firefox extension that adds new advanced download capabilities to your browser. DownThemAll lets you download all the links or images contained in a Web page and you can refine your downloads by fully customizable criteria to get only what you really want. DownThemAll is all you can desire from a download manager it features an advanced accelerator that increases speed up to 400%, it allows you to pause and resume downloads at any time and, last but not least, it is fully integrated into your favorite browser.
What's new in this version: Version 2.0.13 adds sk-SK translation and fixes for minor translation issues and problem where DTA prevented the Evernote add-on from working correctly.
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All versions:
3.5 starsout of 53 votes
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Current version:
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"Things you should know"
Version: DownThemAll 2.0.7
Pros
Fast but you can never get too much of speed
Cons
NEEDS TO BR FASTER =]
Summary
Great apps no bugs just a strait forward download app download starts out below average but picks up speed fast.
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"not support google chrome ?"
Version: DownThemAll 2.0.7
Pros
just asking ....
Cons
just asking ....
Summary
this software does not support google chrome extension ???
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"Useless, overrated, full of bugs."
Version: DownThemAll 1.1.10
Pros
Very fast download of very small sized files.
Cons
Gives "invalid file location" codes less than halfway through downloading files sized
+ 300MB. Video downloads can be iffy as well. Good luck getting an intelligent answer from their bug reports page. All I got was "Nothing we can do about it"Summary
It's an often-recommended but worthless piece of fluff. Needs a lot of work. A lot.
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"works as advertised"
Version: DownThemAll 1.1.8
Pros
faster downloads
Cons
still figuring out how to use it to download full movies off websites
Summary
it works as it's described and I swear by it. it makes large files download a bit quicker than if you didn't use it. even on high speed it's still a must.
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"coolllllllll"
Version: DownThemAll 1.1.8
Pros
coolllllllllllllll
Cons
coollllllllllllllll
Summary
coolllllllllllllllllll
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"downloading makes faster"
Version: DownThemAll 1.1.6
Pros
I use this add ons many times it realy great and works faster.
Cons
I guess the developer should enhance the design to make it more fascinating and genuine.
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"Both strong and weak"
Version: DownThemAll 1.1.0
Pros
Good Solid program
Cons
Would rate 5 stars if resume would start at a later time where it left off much like MS update does
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"Must have if using Firefox"
Version: DownThemAll 1.1.0
Pros
Everything easy to use and not so big file to download.
Applicable to Firefox while other is not always so.Cons
Can not think of any
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"Brilliant.....works like a dream....easy to use"
Version: DownThemAll 1.0.3
Pros
ease of use. simplicity of installation.
Cons
there is nothing to dislike
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"Best Download Manager/Accelerator ever period."
Version: DownThemAll 1.1.0
Pros
Everything. Its speeds up all downloads, you do more than one download at once, and you can pause downloads.
Cons
Nothing at all.
Summary
If you're a Firefox user, this is a must have add-on.
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